


Once Upon A Time

by carefully_crafted_cliches



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cinderella Fusion, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Cinderella Elements, F/F, Fluff, Genderbending, Prince Phil, cisgirl!dan, cisgirl!phil, fem!Phan, servant dan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 20:59:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6024670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carefully_crafted_cliches/pseuds/carefully_crafted_cliches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The palace is hosting a royal ball to find Princess Fiona a wife. With the help of her Fairy God Mother, Daniella Howell - a lowly servant in her own home - is able to attend, and spends a magical night falling in love with Phil, who neglects to mention she is actually the princess. You know how the story goes from there.</p><p>A classic Cinderella AU with cisgirl!phan, because I've been wanting to write fem!Phan for a while now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once Upon A Time

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like this is pretty self explanatory. Hope you enjoy it :).
> 
> You can also find this on [my tumblr](http://sexuallyambiguousphan.tumblr.com/post/139280507275/once-upon-a-time). (Give it a follow if you want to.)

Glass slippers were goddamned _painful_.

That about summed up the majority of Daniella Howell’s thoughts as she wandered around the ornate ballroom, trying to avoid being seen by her stepmother and stepsisters, whilst also trying to find the refreshments table, and maybe a chair to sit for a spell, because _damn it_ her feet hurt.

Louise, her long-time confidant and Fairy God Mother, had assured her that glass slippers were _all the rage_ in the royal courts of France, and that when they made their way to England, Dan would have the satisfaction in knowing she’d been ahead of the curve. She wept for the feet of the women in France. How was she supposed to dance when the pain in her feet was so unbearable she could hardly _walk_?

Although, if she somehow had a chance to dance with the princess, she certainly wouldn’t turn it down for some small inconvenience like horribly painful shoes.

This entire ball – a party fancier than any Dan had ever attended in her lifetime, and probably ever would again – was thrown for the sole purpose of finding Princess Fiona Lester a wife.

Princess Fiona had, from a young age, made it painfully clear that she had no intention of marrying a man. Fortunately for her, she had an older brother who would one day inherit the throne, and so she didn’t have the responsibility of producing an heir. Her parents, therefore, had supported her preference for the fairer sex. This of course didn’t mean that they wanted her to remain their only unwed child, but Fiona had always been more interested in quests than in courting. They’d thrown this ball in the hope that she’d find a suitable wife and finally settle down.

And so most of the women at the ball were attending with the intention of catching the Princess’ eye (whether or not they were actually interested in women was of no importance to many of the ladies in attendance). Dan had to admit that while marrying a princess and escaping her horrible life would be a dream come true, it wasn’t very likely she’d even _see_ the Princess tonight, let alone dance with her or capture her heart – not with all these other gorgeous women gracefully dancing around the ornate ballroom.

Hell, she wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for Louise, who’d made Dan promise that if she did wed the Princess, she’d let her move into the palace with her. Dan had agreed of course, because if, against all odds, she managed to meet the Princess and somehow marry her, she’d never want to move into such a foreign lifestyle without Louise by her side. The magical woman was basically her only friend, and they’d been close since Louise was still in training to hone her magic and become a Fairy God Mother.

As it was, Louise still hadn’t perfected her abilities (having only been promoted to full Fairy God Mother status less than a week ago), and the current spell that had dressed Dan in a lovely gown and given her a carriage and six gorgeous white stallions was to wear off at exactly midnight. She didn’t mind the time constraints – she would’ve had to leave early anyway, so she could be home and suitably cinder-covered by the time her stepmother and stepsisters returned from the ball. And since she had no delusions that she was going to meet and fall in love with the princess, she was content to just enjoy herself at the first, and likely last, ball she had ever attended, her throbbing feet be damned. (But seriously, she was going to have words with Louise later about the benefits of practical footwear.)

“Excuse me, miss,” a smooth, soothing voice interrupted her internal griping, and Dan turned around to see a pretty girl with dark, curly hair holding a gloved hand out to her. “May I have this dance?”

Dan allowed herself to be whisked away by the girl – who was surprisingly strong despite being shorter than Dan – into the middle of the dance floor. For the next three songs they danced and made polite conversation, and Dan found the girl’s name was PJ – or at least, that’s what she went by, and she refused to reveal her full name – and she worked for the village paper.

“I think I’ve seen your articles,” Dan remarked. “They’re very… imaginative. Are you sure everything you publish is true?”

PJ shrugged. “From a certain point of view, it could be.”

After another fast paced song – and another several minutes of excruciating pain in Dan’s feet – they were interrupted by a girl with straight brown hair and a roguish smirk, who offered PJ her hand. Dan graciously, and gratefully, bowed out and hobbled through the crowd and out of the ballroom before another girl could ask her to dance. She found herself in a small, empty back garden bursting with gorgeous white moonflowers. Seeing no one around to judge her for her lack of decorum, she quickly kicked off the glass slippers and sighed happily as her feet his the cool, soft grass. She wandered through the lovely, quiet garden, shoes in her hands, and came across a moonlit pond. Leaning to place her slippers down gently on the grass, she couldn’t resist the temptation to admire her reflection in the still water.

Louise had really done an amazing job. The Fairy God Mother’s magic had adorned Dan in a stunning soft blue backless gown that draped across her form, embroidered with flowering designs and tiny, shining gems. Part of her curly brown hair was pulled into an intricate knot at the back of her, held together by a glinting silver hairpiece, while the rest flowed freely over her shoulders and down her back. Dan had never felt more beautiful.

“If ever there was a dress that could win me a princess, it would be this one,” Dan murmured softly, then nearly laughed at her own wistful tone. She’d promised herself, when she was making her own dress that had been destroyed by her stepsisters, that she wasn’t going to spend the ball pathetically pining over a princess she didn’t even know. But of course, she couldn’t help but dream of a beautiful princess whisking her away from her terrible life as a servant to her family. No one could blame her for wishing.

“Excuse me, miss,” another voice, certainly not PJ’s, startled her from her thoughts, “but would you mind if I inquired as to what you were doing out here when the party is still happening inside?”

Dan turned to face this new voice and nearly gasped, for the women in front of her was so stunningly gorgeous. She seemed to practically float across the grass in her ornate blush ball gown, but Dan hardly noticed, unable to tear her gaze away from the girl’s striking blue eyes. They were as light and clear as the sky on a sunny spring day, and Dan felt the same fascination she had as a little girl lying on the rolling hills outside of town, imagining herself growing wings and flying away from her horrid stepmother into the endless blueblueblue sky.

Those blueblueblue eyes were now looking at her in concern, and wait how long had Dan been staring? “Miss,” the woman said tentatively, “are you well?”

“Yes!” Dan practically yelped, shaking herself out of her thoughts, before saying again in a calmer tone, “yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry, I lost myself for a moment there.”

The woman gave a dazzling smile. “Quite alright, I do it all the time.” The woman glided over the to pond where Dan was still standing, dumbfounded. “I’m Phil, in case you were wondering,” she said as she came to a stop next to Dan.

“Oh, that’s – I’m Daniella,” Dan stuttered, falling into a quick curtsy. “I go by Dan, though.” Or Cinderella, if you asked her relatives. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Phil returned to the curtsy. “The pleasure is all mine, Dan. Now that we’re acquainted, would you be so kind as to tell me why you’re out here, avoiding the party?”

Dan blushed. “Um, it’s just…” she gestured at the floor, where her glass slippers seemed to glow in the moonlight. “My shoes were really hurting my feet, but I couldn’t take them off in the ballroom. So… here I am.”

Phil stared curiously at beautiful shoes for a moment before asking, “Are those shoes made of _glass_?” in a baffled voice.

“Yes, they are,” Dan laughed. “My friend made them for me. She told me glass slippers are currently popular in France. I can’t imagine why – they’re terribly painful.” And these ones were made _just for her_ , too.

“Well the French have always been a bit odd, haven’t they?” Phil replied with small smile. “They are gorgeous those, pass my compliments on to your friend. She must be very skilled.”

“I’ll be sure to do that.”

“As long as your shoes are off though, and we’re not over overly worried about decorum…” Phil quickly lifted the hem of her dress and toed off her own shoes. She gave a sigh echoing Dan’s from minutes ago as her toes curled into the grass. “That feels so much better. You definitely had the right idea.”

“You’re staying out here?” Dan asked, surprised. “Don’t you want to go inside with everyone else, and try to catch the princess’ eye?”

“Don’t you?” Phil replied simply.

“To be completely honest, I’m just happy to be here at all,” Dan said. “I’m sure everyone dreams of meeting the princess, myself included, but I doubt I’ll get the chance and I don’t even know if we’d get along.”

“Most of the girls in there don’t seem to care if they’ll get along with Princess Fiona,” Phil pointed. “They’d marry her whether they liked her or not.”

Dan nodded sadly. “That’s probably why the princess hasn’t look for a wife to begin with,” she guessed. “She can’t be sure if whomever she’s with only wants her for her royal title and her riches. I can’t imagine why the king and queen thought a ball like this would work.”

“Perhaps they’re just more optimistic than us,” Phil said, with a rather unladylike roll of her eyes. “So to answer your question, no, I don’t want to go inside and try to catch the princess’ eye. I much prefer the company out here.”

Dan could feel her cheeks heat up, and she gave Phil a shy smile. “I’d have to agree with you on that.” It was quiet between them for a few moments, and they could faintly hear sounds of the music inside the ballroom drifting out into their private haven. “Would you,” she coughed nervously and started again, “would you like to dance, Phil?”

Phil gave another stunning smile and replied, “I’d love to.”

Phil’s hand was incredibly soft as Dan held it in her own hand, which was calloused from years of hard labor. The spun in slow circles for a short time, but the song promptly changed to an upbeat number, and soon Phil was dragging Dan in a leaping, lilting dance around the garden. They twirled through flowerbeds and around neatly trimmed hedges and blooming fruit trees. Nodded respectfully to any statues they passed, as if they were fellow dancers, and laughed merrily, unconcerned with manners as it was just the two of them here in this moonlit garden.

As the song reached a crescendo, though, Phil tripped over the exposed roots of a tree and sent them both tumbling into the shallow pond. They froze for several moments, shocked looks on their faces, before they met each other’s eyes and burst into loud laughter again.

Dan stood up first and helped Phil out of the pond, then they both collapsed in a laughing heap on the dry grass. “I can’t believe that happened,” Phil managed to gasp out as their laughter finally started to subside. “Oh, this dress is completely ruined.”

“It was your fault!” Dan teased. “You’re the one who tripped.”

Phil gave a sheepish grin. “I probably should have warned you about how clumsy I am.”

“You looked so graceful when you first walked over to me though,” Dan pointed out.

“I was trying quite hard to look elegant,” Phil admitted. “There was a beautiful girl to impress, after all.”

Dan blushed again and buried her face in her hands. “Don’t say things like that, I don’t know how to respond.”

“I thought someone as lovely as you would be used to receiving compliments.”

Dan looked up from her hands and gave a weak smile. “I’m really not – lovely, or used to compliments. My friend made me look amazing tonight, but I’ve never looked beautiful before.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Phil said seriously. “You’re drenched in pond water right now and you’re still beautiful.”

Dan ripped up a clump of grass and threw it at Phil, who just laughed and dusted off her soaked dress.

Soon they calmed down and lay back on the grass to stare at the stars. Phil pointed out the constellations, and Dan mentioned that she named the mice in her house after stars, which led to them discussing their shared love of animals, then their varying levels of fondness for horseback riding, and their hobbies, their favorite books, their happy childhood memories.

“I used to lay out in the fields behind our house, braiding together flowers and listening to my mum read stories to me,” Dan recalled. “After she passed away, I taught myself to read, because I missed getting lost in her stories. Sometimes I just wish I could hear her voice again.”

Phil reached out and squeezed Dan’s hand. “My mother always tells me that those we love never truly leave, that they spend the rest of our lives looking after us. They’re the wind on a warm summer day, the warm fire during a harsh winter, the moon that lights your way on a dark night.”

“I’d like to believe that,” Dan said softly. “Bet let us not talk about such sorrowful subjects anymore. I seem to have finally dried off, and I can hear the musicians playing a slow song now. I’d love another dance, if you’re not averse to it.”

“That sounds perfect.” Phil stood up first and helped Dan from the ground, pulling her securely into her arms.

“I wish every night could be like this,” Dan whispered as they danced slowly around the pond.

“Can’t it, though?” Phil asked.

Dan didn’t reply, knowing her answer couldn’t be positive, and instead snuggled her face against Phil’s soft, long neck, discreetly inhaling her fresh scent. She wanted to burn this moment into her memory. Phil wrapped her arms more tightly around the brunette, and Dan got the feeling that Phil wanted hold onto this moment too.

They slowed ever further as they passed a creeping vine of moonflowers. Phil plucked one of the white blooms from the vine and lifted Dan’s chin, tucking the flower into her curly hair. Dan gazed at Phil’s beautiful face, and wanted nothing more than to pull her in for a kiss – until they spun once more and Dan was given a perfect view of the clock tower.

It was a minute to midnight.

“Oh no,” she gasped, quickly pulling away from Phil.

“What’s wrong?” the other girl asked.

“I have to go,” Dan said quickly, rushing over to the pond to grab her shoes.

“Wait, what?” Phil hurried after her. “Why? The night is still young, stay a few more hours.”

“I’d love to, but I really can’t,” Dan said as she rushed back into the ballroom, Phil right behind her.

“Wait, please!” Phil grasped at Dan’s wrist, and Dan very briefly paused to look at the other girl. “At least tell me I’ll see you again.”

Dan desperately wished she could, but no, the second the clock struck midnight she was to go back to her life as a poor servant girl with rags for clothes and cinders on her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she nearly whispered. She leaned up and gave Phil a quick kiss on the cheek. “I had a lovely night, Phil, and I’m so happy to have met you.”

With that, she pulled her wrist from Phil’s grasp and broke into a run across ballroom, not caring at the moment who she ran into. She stumbled down the stairs towards her carriage, dropping one of the glass slippers in her haste. She almost went back for it – as painful as the slippers were, they were the only part of her outfit that wouldn’t disappear at midnight, for Louise had channeled so much of her magic into the shoes, and she wanted to keep them as a reminder of this unbelievable night – but as she turned her head, she saw Phil running across the ballroom towards her and quickly changed her mind, leaving the single glass slipper lying on the grand stairs. She couldn’t risk Phil catching up to her, and the spell wearing off, and Phil seeing her for the dirty peasant she was.

It took Phil a few seconds to break out of her stupor, because Dan had just kissed her cheek, and by the time she did Dan was already nearly at the front steps of the palace. Phil sprinted after her, yelling for her guards as Dan jumped into a beautiful white coach.

“Stop that coach!” she ordered the guards at the front door. “Close the gates!” It was crazy, she knew, but she couldn’t lose Dan so soon after meeting her. If only Dan could stay for even a few more minutes, give Phil her last name and a way to find her again.

“Go, go!” Dan yelled at her coachman, who was already starting to look rather dog-like again. He sped forward before she was even fully in the carriage, and the footmen pulled the door shut behind her as the scenery raced past. The path up to the palace was long and the gates were closing. Oh god, they weren’t going to make it. The coachman whipped the mice-turned-horses, urging them to run even faster, as the gap between the gates got smaller and smaller. Dan grabbed onto her seat as the ride got bumpier and she was nearly thrown about the carriage. She’d certainly never seen a carriage move this fast before. And still, the gates were closing….

Phil watched from the steps as the coach carrying her love raced towards the closing gates, terrified. Couldn’t anything make the gates close faster? The gap was tiny, now, but in a sudden burst of seemingly impossible speed, Dan’s carriage made it past the gates just before they closed with a slam behind it.

“Open the gates!” Phil ordered, whistling for her house. “After that carriage!”

Phil and her guardsmen began streaming out of the gates as soon as they were open wide enough to accommodate a single horse. They raced down the road, Phil at the lead. She’d find Dan, _she would_ ; a single person on a horse could go faster than a heavy carriage.

Dan could hear the clock beginning to chime as they just barely made it past the palace gates. The carriage continued to race forward, nearly tipping over as it went around a sharp turn. As the clock continued to chime, the carriage began to shrink, vines growing along the wheels. “The woods!” she yelled. “Turn into the woods before we fall apart!”

The carriage took another sharp turn, this time flying to the side and crashing just as the white wood began to resemble a pumpkin again. The currently giant pumpkin was smashed open and Dan and her footmen, who now had beaks, tumbled out. She could hear the hooves of dozens of horses approaching on the path behind her, so without stopping to regain her breath, she dashed into the woods with her changing horses, footmen, and coachman right behind her. Only when they were completely covered in the thicket did she finally stop running. She watched from the safety of the trees as the royal guards raced past, their horses trampling the pumpkin the beneath their feet.

Back at the palace, the clock struck twelve, and Dan was back in the ragged remains of her old dress, surrounded by a dog, two geese, and six mice.

She stared down sadly at the single glass slipper in her hand, her only reminder that this night had not been purely imagination, before turning to her animals. “Come on, guys, we’ll follow the path but we need to stay in to the forest in case the guards turn back. We have a long walk home, don’t we?”

~*~*~

Phil, or Princess Fiona, as she was known by most, was in a sorry state by the time she returned to the palace. They had searched for hours, but Dan was nowhere to be found. It was as if she and her ornate carriage and grand stallions had simply disappeared into thin air.

“Princess, Princess!” her father’s aide, Jack, called, running over to where she was dismounting her horse. “I have good news!”

She spun around abruptly. “Has someone found Dan?”

He wiped at his monocle nervously. “Well… no. But the messenger you sent back told me that she was wearing glass slippers.”

“Yes, she told me her friend made them for her.”

“Well I think you’ll be interested in what we found on the front steps.” He beckoned over a palace aide, who proudly held up a pillow with a single, delicate glass slipper resting atop it.

Phil gasped. “She left behind one of her shoes.” And thank god, because Phil was seriously starting to doubt her own sanity. If the girl could just disappear like that, had she ever been real? According to this glass slipper, yes. This slim, glimmering shoe proved that the night had not all been a beautiful dream.

“The king suggested that, perhaps, if this was indeed made to fit only her foot,” the nervous man continued, “then you could find the girl by declaring that every woman in the kingdom must try on this shoe.”

“That’s completely preposterous!” Phil snapped, and Jack nearly jumped. “But… it’s the only idea we have right now…” She sighed heavily. “Fine, have someone write the decree immediately. We set out tomorrow to find her.”

~*~*~

The next day, Dan was outside tending to the garden, humming the song she and Phil had shared their last dance to. Her remaining glass slipper was safely tucked away in her attic bedroom, and though her stepmother was suspicious about her good mood, the bitter woman had no real proof that her detested stepdaughter had ever left the house. Dan had gotten away with it. She’d gone to the ball and had an amazing night, and even though she hadn’t met the princess and been rescued from her normal life, she couldn’t have been happier with how everything had gone.

Suddenly, she heard one of her stepsisters screeching loudly. She rushed into the house – if Annalisa or Alyssa had hurt themselves and she didn’t tend to them immediately, she knew she would somehow be blamed. But upon entering the house, it became quite obvious that neither girl was hurt. Alyssa was practicing her needlepoint with her mother (at least, Dan was fairly certain that was supposed to be needlepoint) while Annalisa, the cause of the noise, was practically jumping around the living room.

“The princess!” she squealed. “The princess has declared she found her future bride at the ball.”

“Why are you celebrating, then?” Alyssa sneered. “It’s obviously not you.”

“You didn’t let me finish!” Annalisa yelled. “She found her future bride, but the girl ran away and left only a shoe behind. Now every eligible woman in the kingdom is to try on the shoe, and if it is a perfect fit, she will marry the princess. Don’t you see? All one of us has to do is fit into some stupid glass slipper, and we’ll be royalty!”

Alyssa threw her needlework down. “I’m going to marry the princess!” she cried.

“No, I’m going to marry the princess!” Annalisa shouted back.

“No, I am!”

“I am!”

“I am!”

“Girls!” their mother interrupted. “It doesn’t matter which one of you marries the princess – so long as one of you does, we will all be taken away from this wretched old place to live in the palace.”

They paused as if they hadn’t considered this, before Alyssa said, “I still think it will be me. Annalisa is far too hideous to marry a princess.” And the fighting started up again.

Dan, meanwhile, silently slipped back out of the house, unnoticed. Her heart was racing, she could feel it practically in her throat, and she momentarily forgot how to breathe. Phil, the woman she’d fallen for so quickly, was Princess Fiona? How had she not realized? That certainly explained the royal guard chasing after her when she left the ball… But Phil had fallen in love with her too! Phil wanted to marry her! Phil–

Couldn’t possibly still want to marry Dan when she saw her limp hair, dirty face, and ragged clothes.

Dan sighed and sat down on a cracked stone bench. “She’ll find someone else who fits the shoe,” she muttered. “Someone richer and prettier. She’ll forget all about me.”

“Oh, rubbish!” Louise’s sudden appearance startled Dan from her moping. “No one else can fit that shoe.”

Dan furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“Bit of tricky magic, it was,” Louise said. “But those shoes won’t fit on any feet but your own. I made sure of it.”

“Princess Fiona still won’t want me once she sees me,” Dan gestured down at herself, “like this.”

“Oh, stop being a self-pitying fool,” Louise scolded. “I didn’t make you look that different for the ball. You’re beautiful as you are, and I’m sure she’ll see that – even with your hideous clothes.”

“…Thanks, Louise. I guess.”

“Anytime! Just remember, if you marry the princess, I want a room for myself in the castle!” With that, she spun on her heel and disappeared as suddenly as she’d arrived.

~*~*~

“Cinderella!”

Dan hurried down the stairs to where her stepmother lounged in the sitting room. “Yes, stepmother?” 

“I need you to go to the market today.” She handed over a long list. “The shopping hasn’t been done in far too long. Do not forget anything or you won’t be having dinner tonight.”

“Of course, stepmother,” Dan said, then hurried out of the house and began the long trek into the village. Honestly, she was glad for any excuse to get out of the house. Her step sisters had been more insufferable than usual, and it was made worse by the bit of hope she still held onto that the princess would come find her and take her away.

It had been weeks and no member of the royal guard had arrived at their house with the shoe. Perhaps Phil had been discouraged and given up. Or maybe she’d found someone who fit the shoe, even though Louise said that wasn’t possible. Or maybe she’d heard about Annalisa and Alyssa from some of her other subjects and had just decided to avoid their house altogether. Dan certainly couldn’t blame her if that was the case. She doubted anyone would willingly spend time with Annalisa and Alyssa.

Just in case, though, she taken to carrying her glass slipper around in her cloth bag whenever she went into town. She never knew if she might run into the Princess or her guards. She hadn’t yet, of course, but maybe fate would be kind to her today.

~*~*~

“I just don’t see the point anymore,” Phil lamented. “We’ve searched nearly all the kingdom, and the shoe hasn’t fit on anyone. I’m never going to find her. We should just give up and go back to the palace. I don’t mind growing old alone.”

“Now, Princess, let’s not be too hasty,” Jack said. “This is one of the last households we need to check. At least let us finish with them.”

“Very well,” Phil groused. “But I doubt we’ll find her here.”

The Princess and her aides and guards walked up the garden path to a house that looked like it might once have been charming, but had at some point fallen into disrepair. Jack knocked on the door, and they soon her eye-piercing yells coming from the house.

“Get out of my way, Annalisa!”

“No, you get out of the way, you fat oaf!”

“How dare you!”

“Girls, girls!”

The fighting stopped and soon a severe looking woman opened the door. Upon seeing the Princess, she bowed deeply. “It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. I am Lady Tremaine, and these are my daughters, Annalisa and Alyssa.” Two girls in garish outfits came running to the door and quickly bowed alongside their mother, though they continued shoving each other other.

Phil raised an eyebrow at Jack, trying to convey as much “I told you so” as possible in one look. 

Jack sighed. “Rise,” he commanded. “The Princess is here in accordance with Royal Decree number three hundred and twenty-seven, stating that all eligable women in the kingdom must try on the presented glass slipper. Any girl who fits the slipper shall be immediately escorted to the palace and will soon marry the Princess.”

“I get to try it on first!” one of the girls screeched, and Phil winced.

“No, I do!”

“Ladies first, Alyssa!”

“I’ll show you a lady, you little--”

“Girls!” their mother interrupted, and Phil got the feeling this was a regular occurrence in this family. “Alyssa will try on the slipper first.” She turned around from her glaring daughters to face the royal guard. “Please, do come into the sitting room.”

Phil and the others reluctantly followed Lady Tremaine into her house, while one of the girls, presumably Alyssa, practically ran to sit in the center of the lounge, pulling off her shoes and presenting her visibly dirty foot to a rather disgusted Jack.

It didn’t fit. Not even close. In fact the shoe seemed to almost actually _reject_ the girl’s foot. She looked ready to throw a temper tantrum, but Lady Tremaine quickly gestured for Annalisa to take her place. The shoe was a slightly better fit on her, but that wasn’t saying much.

“It’s hot!” she insisted. “My feet always swell when it’s hot! If one of you useless lugs,” she gestured at the guards, “would fetch me some ice--”

“I don’t think that will be necessary, Miss,” Jack interrupted. “The shoe clearly does not fit, and we will be going now.”

“Wait!”Lady Tremaine demanded. “I have not tried on the slipper yet.”

“You?” Jack nearly scoffed, and Phil looked like she was about to be sick.

“The decree does say _all_ eligible women are to try on the shoe, doesn’t it?”

Jack held back a sigh and knelt to place the slipper on foot. Of course, it didn’t fit.

“Well, it seems we’re done here,” Jack said, quickly standing. “Unless there are any other women in the household.” Lady Tremaine shook her head with tightly pursed lips. “The we really must be going now.” 

As he turned away from the obnoxious family, the front door opened and a beautiful brunette stepped into the house. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize we had company.”

“Foolish girl!” Lady Tremaine yelled. “Why are you not still at the market?”

But the girl wasn’t listening, she was looking at the princess with something akin to wonder and disbelief in her warm brown eyes. “Phil?” she breathed the name like a prayer.

Phil spun around. “Dan?” she gasped. The girl tentatively nodded. “It’s you! Dan, oh thank goodness I’ve found you!” She rushed over to the girl and pulled her into a tight embrace. “I’d nearly given up, I thought I’d never see you again.”

“So did I,” Dan said with tears in her eyes.

Jack coughed politely to get their attention. As they turned to him, he was smiling. “Miss...”

“Daniella Howell,” Dan supplied.

“Miss Howell, would you be so kind as to try on the slipper?”

At that moment, a loud crash rang throughout the room. And there stood Lady Tremaine, fuming mad, with the remains of the delicate glass slipper in her bloodied hand.

“It seems that no one will fit the shoe now,” she growled in a voice that itself sounded like broken glass. “Such a shame.

Dan smirked at her. “That _is_ such a shame. But luckily, stepmother,” she said as she opened her bag, “I have the other slipper.” And with that she pulled out the sparkling glass shoe and handed it to Jack, who smiled widely and kneeled down to slip it onto her foot. It fit perfectly.

~*~*~

Dan and Phil, or officially Princess Fiona and Princess Daniella, were married within a month. The entire kingdom - aside from Lady Tremaine and her daughters - came to see the grand ceremony. In her new life as a royal, Dan wanted for nothing, but honestly, she wouldn’t care if they lost everything, so long as Phil as was by her side.

Oh, and Louise did indeed get her own room in the castle, and even designed Dan’s wedding gown - though Dan absolutely refused her suggestion of glass slippers.  

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you liked it, and also if you spotted any pronoun mistakes.


End file.
